


Wyoming Blues

by saiditallbefore



Category: Little Women Series - Louisa May Alcott
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fake Marriage, Fix it for Dan, Western
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-19 04:33:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19968100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiditallbefore/pseuds/saiditallbefore
Summary: To be entirely honest, Dan hadn’t really expected to wake up after getting shot by a cattle rustler.  He definitely hadn’t expected to wake up to a familiar voice.





	Wyoming Blues

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ashling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashling/gifts).



> Ashling, it is entirely your fault that I re-read both Little Men and Jo’s Boys in two days XD I hope you enjoy this!

To be entirely honest, Dan hadn’t really expected to wake up after getting shot by a cattle rustler. He definitely hadn’t expected to wake up to a familiar voice.

“I said _clean_ bandages! These aren’t even a bit clean!”

He blinked his eyes open, sure that he was having some sort of odd dream. But sure enough, there was Nan, her sleeves rolled up and hair falling loose from its braid. 

“What the—” he bit back a swear word, though Nan probably wouldn’t have minded. “What are you doing here?”

“You’re awake!” There was such relief in her voice that Dan knew, without asking, that he’d been right about it being a close thing. Then, “No, don’t sit up.” Her small, cool hands pressed down on his shoulders, keeping him from sitting up.

It also made Dan acutely aware that he was not wearing a shirt— someone must have removed it in order to bandage him up.

“You couldn’t give me a shirt, could you?” He couldn’t quite bring himself to look at Nan, but he just _knew_ she was laughing at him.

“Then how am I going to change your bandages?” She huffed, and the familiar sound brought a smile to Dan’s face. “I didn’t think people out West would be so prudish, but they almost didn’t let me in to see you, even though I’m the only doctor for miles.”

Dan pulled the blanket over his chest, feeling foolish even as he did so. “What _did_ bring you out here, Nan?”

Something flickered over her face, too fast for Dan to decipher. “I needed a change of scenery. I bribed Ted to give me your last return address, and, well— at least in Wyoming women can vote.” She lifted her chin defiantly.

Dan searched for something to say, but words— never his strong suit— escaped him.

The moment passed when the door creaked open and a dusty face peeked in. “Here’s the clean bandages for you, ma’am.”

Nan inspected the bandages with a professional air. “Good enough.”

Seeing Dan awake, the miner nodded at him. “Your wife’s a tough ‘un,” he said, then ducked out of the room before Dan could think of a response to this confounding statement.

Dan gave Nan his best, level stare. Nan merely looked unimpressed.

“I had to convince them to let me see you somehow. Now hold still, I’ve got to change those bandages.”

* * *

With Doctor Nan looking after him, Dan healed up remarkably quickly. She’d cautioned him not to take things too quickly, because he would just reinjure himself, but he’d expected that.

The town— if it could be called that— was tiny, mostly populated by ranchers and former miners. And by now, most of them had heard that Dan’s wife had come into town and was nursing him back to health.

He didn’t disabuse anyone of the notion. It was easier this way, without people asking too many questions.

After a few days, he was able to walk outside with Nan’s help. It was late evening, and the sun was just setting over the mountains, and he rested at the base of a tree and breathed in the fresh air. 

“It’s so peaceful out here,” Nan said. “I see why you like it.”

“You had to patch me up from a gunshot wound,” Dan said wryly.

Nan shrugged one shoulder. “At least it was something I could fix.”

Dan looked up at her, but her face was hard to read against the darkening sky. He’d tried not to pry, as he knew too well what that felt like. But Nan’s sudden appearance, miraculous though it was, worried him.

“Were things that bad, back in the city?” Cities had never been kind to Dan, but Nan was different. She came from a good family, and had an education and high-class friends to speak for her. 

“People are old-fashioned,” Nan said. “They don’t want a woman doctor.” She balled up her fists. “Even at Plumfield, I had to work harder than any of the boys to prove that I was serious about medicine, and any other college would’ve been worse.”

“You did a good job patching me up,” Dan said. The words seemed insufficient, but Nan squeezed his shoulder lightly, so he guessed she knew what he meant.

* * *

It didn’t take long after that for other folks in the town to start coming to Nan. The first ones eyed her warily, but were quickly won over when she briskly patched up their farming injuries. When she remedied a baby’s cough, the few women in the town became her staunch defenders.

Dan, of course, heard about all of these adventures in detail, as even the townsfolk who had avoided him before now felt the need to approach him and tell him how wonderful his “wife” was.

They were all so fond of her, and seemed so eager to extend that fondness to him, that he wondered what would happen when he moved on. Probably they’d be willing to let her stay, and just denounce him as a blackguard who’d left her. 

But he’d never been good at staying in one place for too long, and he could already feel the itch to move on coming over him again.

He and Nan had settled into a sort of routine in the evenings she didn’t have patients, where they spent time under the tree out back and watched the sun set. It was on one of these evenings when he broached the subject of his departure.

As he talked, she gave him a blank, stony look— the kind he remembered her giving the other boys when they were doing something she thought particularly stupid. 

“What?” he asked.

“You’re an idiot,” Nan said, exasperated.

“Ain’t the first time I’ve heard that,” Dan said, “But I’d like to know what I did.”

Nan grabbed him by the front of the shirt and kissed him soundly. Then, almost before he’d had a chance to react, she pulled away. Even in the dim light of the setting sun, Dan could see that Nan’s face had turned almost completely red.

“Nan—” he began, but he didn’t know how to continue. And before he could try, she dashed away.

Dan wasn’t entirely blind. He knew that women sometimes looked at him; last time he’d visited Plumfield, he’d had to avoid a whole passel of the ones from the college. But this was _Nan_. She was sensible and down-to-earth and they’d known each other for ages.

And, though he hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself before, she was pretty. It was odd to think of the wild girl who’d gotten lost picking berries and torn up her dolls’ clothes for bandages as turning out pretty, but she was.

It had gotten dark while he’d been sitting there thinking, and he was glad that he was no longer so injured that he needed help to walk. 

He slowly made his way into the little house. There was no sign of Nan yet, so he sat down to wait, hoping that things weren’t completely ruined.

It was past midnight when she finally came back. She was red-eyed, but there were no tears, and Dan was secretly relieved. 

“I’m sorry,” Nan said. “Things have been going so well, and now I’ve gone and ruined them.”

“You haven’t ruined things.” Dan crossed the room in two long steps and took Nan’s hands in his. “But, Nan, are you sure? I don’t have any family, or people. I can’t even stand to stay in one place for too long.”

“You know that I don’t like being caged up, either,” Nan said earnestly. “And if I cared about money or family or any of those things, I’d have married one of the idiots who chased after me back home and made my father happy.” 

She paused, then added, “Besides, I’ve already told everyone in this town I’m married to you, so that should prove something.”

Dan snorted. Then, with a smile, he pulled her to him. This time, their kiss lingered, and neither of them was inclined to pull away.


End file.
